The "March of Unity," which was organized by lawmakers from the governing Civic Platform party [in Bialystok] , walked in silence from the city center to a monument of Ludwik Zamenhof, a Jewish doctor born in Bialystok, who invented the Esperanto language.

The protesters gathered signatures under a manifesto calling for an end to [>] a "wave of thoughtless hatred."

A small counter-demonstration also was held by people chanting nationalist slogans

The time has arrived where we must understand the realities of the dark forces amongst us.

"We must not forget that there are preferences in determining the development of sectors that are central to people's lives and the development of the nation, such as health, housing and drinking water, and also the development of basic infrastructures such as ports, airports, roads, telecommunications, electricity, and the productive sectors, capable of replacing the oil industry, such as agriculture, livestock and industrialization of the domestic production."